The Unicorn Child
by Roeman6816
Summary: Simple. Of all the words one could use to describe his life “simple” is one word Harry Potter would never be able to use. First he’d been an orphan raised by people who hated him, then a wizard known worldwide for a feat he’s somehow achieved as a baby, and now he was The Unicorn Child, although what that truly meant was still very much a mystery to him but, if Hermione was to be b
1. Chapter 1: The Aftermath

Chapter 1: The Aftermath

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed loudly. Luckily there was nobody in the Gryffindor common room other than them, certainly not at this time of night, as such, there was nobody to hear his outburst. Following said outburst, Ron fell into a silent reverie as the evening events bounced around in his mind, his eyes were fixed upon Harry who was sat opposite him but looking through him as his mind continued to wander.

Harry looked to Hermione who was sat on Ron's right side. She too was silent, her brain running at overdrive as she tried to digest all that had happened and make sense of it. Her eyes weren't fixed on Harry like Ron's, instead, her eyes were darting left and right, almost as if she was speed reading, like he'd seen her do before.

The silence hung in the air between the three friends for a long time. Harry wasn't deep in thought like his friends, instead just two words kept repeating themselves over and over in his head, "He's alive." He wasn't concerned with the how's or the why's, only that one fact seemed to matter, Lord Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the dark wizard who had killed Harry's parents, who had tried to kill him, was alive. Hagrid had been the one to tell him about You-Know-Who, following Mr. Ollivander revealing that he'd given Harry is famous lightning bolt scar. Hagrid had said that he didn't believe Voldemort had died, but was too tired to carry on. Tonight, Harry had learnt that Hagrid was right and wrong, Voldemort was alive, but he was not too tired to carry on.

Ron was the one to break the silence after what felt like hours but can't have been more than a few minutes, "Are you sure Harry? Are you sure it was… You-Know-Who?"

Harry could see a mix of fear and hope present on Ron's face. His eyes were wide and he was visibly sweating, but he had a small smile on his face, pained as it was, as if begging Harry to tell him it was all a big joke. Harry wished he could give Ron what he wanted, but he couldn't. Harry himself wished it weren't true, he'd only learnt about Voldemort recently, shortly after learning he was a wizard. Even then he only knew partial information as told by Hagrid and Mr. Ollivander. Voldemort was a dark wizard who brought death and ruin to much of the wizarding world. For some reason, Voldemort targeted and killed Harry's mum and dad, but when he tried to kill Harry, something stopped him, and Voldemort was no more… or so most people believed.

Hermione was in a similar position to Harry, being a muggle-born, she'd only learnt about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named through the History of Magic books that she'd read following her first trip to Diagon Alley. She knew only what the books had said, the facts and figures, nothing of the fear and dread he has inspired in the world whilst he was at the height of his power. Ron, however, had grown up with stories of You-Know-Who. He'd heard more of the finer details about his reign of terror, about the families he'd killed and tortured, about the monstrous creatures he'd recruited to his cause. Ron had feared You-Know-Who for longer than he could remember, so he wanted nothing more than for You-Know-Who to still be dead, not alive, not here and now.

Harry looked at Ron, his gut clenching with guilt and regret, wishing he could alleviate his friends fears, but unable to do so. "I'm sorry Ron. It was him, I felt it… here," Harry spoke softly as he raised his hand to his scar which still felt hot to the touch.

Ron's forced smile remained in place, not willing to believe Harry's words. "But you could be wrong, couldn't you? Sure your scar hurt, but it's not like the cloaked figure ambled up, shook your hand and introduced himself as You-Know-Who. What if your scar was just a coincidence? How you can you sit there and tell me for sure that the darkest wizard to ever live isn't only alive but here, at Hogwarts?!" As Ron had spoken his voice has slowly gotten louder, his smile had faded and been replaced with a scowl, his fear giving way to outrage.

Harry, his face conveying nothing but sadness, looked down, no longer able to hold eye contact with his red haired friend. His response to Ron was barely louder than a whisper, but Ron heard it all the same, "I'm sorry Ron."

Ron was stood now, though he couldn't remember standing, his fists were clenched, his breath came heavily. He met Harry's response with a long withering scowl before he spat out, "It's not true. He's dead. You're a liar." With nothing more to say, Ron stormed off up the stairs to the dormitories.

Silence reigned again in the common room, now only Harry and Hermione occupying the space. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft crackling of the slowly dying fire in the nearby fireplace, and the echo of Ron's retreating steps. Hermione hadn't reacted at any point during Ron's outburst and Harry was unsure if she'd even heard it. Harry himself was heartbroken. He understood Ron's outburst, his disbelief, but that didn't remove the sting from his words. Ron was Harry's first friend, not just at Hogwarts, but in general. He'd never had a friend before, and now his first hated him, thought him a liar.

Harry had been staring at his feet since Ron's temper had risen and had spent the time since Ron left fighting the tears that were forming in his eyes. His eyes slowly lifted to Hermione, his sadness giving way to fear, fear that she would accuse him of being a liar and leave him as Ron had. Hermione was Harry's second friend, not in rank, simply in chronology. Since Halloween the three friends had been inseperable. Whilst Hermione was studious and often came across as bossy, he had soon realised that her bossy nature was less about control and more how she conveyed her caring for him and Ron. She wanted them to succeed, cared about their futures, she just didn't say things the right way, often raising Ron's ire. Now though, Harry feared that her caring but bossy ways would no longer be directed at him.

Hermione didn't seem to notice the holes Harry's eyes were burning into her as her brain had continued to whir away, contemplating everything that had occurred earlier this night. She finally broke out of her reverie when she heard her own name. Her eyes finally focussed on Harry, he seemed to have folded in on himself, he was looking at her with fear on his face, though she couldn't fathom why. Now that her conscious mind had returned to the present, her brain rushed to catch up with what had occurred in the last 10 to 15 minutes, Ron's disbelief giving way to anger, Ron storming out, Harry's broken voice quietly asking her a question.

"Do you think I'm a liar too?"

Her eyes focussed in on Harry again, he was staring at her, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. It had been at least a few minutes since he'd asked the question and she hadn't answered. A single tear left Harry's eye and began its descent down his cheek. It was this that finally got Hermione to speak. "Of course not Harry," she said as she stood from the sofa opposite him and moved to sit next to him. She took his hand in hers before she carried on, "Of course I believe you. I promise." Her statement didn't have the desired effect, Harry's tears only seemed to flow more prominently at her words. "Harry, I swear, I believe you. I'm sorry for what Ron said. It's not that he doesn't believe you, he's scared to admit it's true. It's easier for him to deny it than deal with the truth. He'll come around in time. But I'm not going anywhere okay." With that said she embraced Harry with both arms hoping her presence could do what her words hadn't.

Harry's tears slowed to an eventual stop, his body stopped racking with sobs he'd not been aware of. He pulled away from Hermione enough to look into her eyes. She smiled at him, a genuine smile which told him that she'd spoken truthfully. "Thank you Hermione."

Hermione nodded her head, not trusting her voice to be strong for him, that's what he needed right now. No matter her own fears about the return of You-Know-Who, right now she needed to be there for him. Ron would come round, but until then, it was up to her.

Harry saw Hermione's mind returning to work and it was then that he felt a wave of tiredness which caused him to yawn. The fire had nearly died completely, he didn't know how late it was, their evening had begun , and Harry doubted it would be long before morning arrived. Harry's yawn broke Hermione out of her thoughts and she suggested they go to bed for what little time they could. Harry nodded sleepily. They released their hold of each other and stood. Before Hermione could reach the stairs to the dormitories Harry's voice stopped her.

"Hermione," she turned to face him before he continued, "thank you."

Hermione smile once more, gave Harry a small peck on the cheek and said goodnight. She then continued up the stairs. Harry smiled before climbing his own stairs. Another wave of tiredness hit as Harry reached his bed. He shirked off his shoes and climbed into his bed and fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. Fully dressed he soon fell into a deep slumber, unaware of what the morning would bring.


	2. Chapter 2: Detention in the Forest

Chapter 2: Detention in the Forest

Ridiculous. That's the word he'd have used to describe his current predicament, assuming that the unadulterated terror he was experiencing would dissipate enough to allow his conscious mind to do so.

Fear had dominated much of Harry Potter's existence. He had feared his cousin Dudley for much of his childhood, especially when he wanted to play the game he'd taken to calling "Harry Hunting". He had also feared his Aunt and Uncle and the punishments they would give him for doing something wrong, or abnormal, or simply for being there. He had feared Dudley's friends, Vernon's sister, her nasty dog Ripper; the list was endless, and that hadn't even covered his life since learning he was a wizard.

The magical world was wonderful for sure but still held aspects which instilled further fear into Harry. The muggle world didn't have trolls or three-headed dogs. The muggle world didn't have Professor Snape. The muggle world didn't have the man who'd killed his parents. Those things were exclusively the magical world, but they weren't the worst of it.

Ever since discovering and joining the magical world he had something far worse to fear. The magical world had given him magic and wonder, hope of a Dursley free existence, and most importantly, friends, two best friends he adored. That was the worst thing about the magical world, it had given him something to lose, and that terrified him more than all the other things combined. And here he was, about to lose it all; his magic, his hope, his friends, and his life.

From his position on the forest floor, his back resting against a fallen tree, he could do nought but watch as the dark hooded figure continued to stalk towards him. His scar had begun to sting with pain the moment he'd first laid eyes on the creature as it drank the blood of its unicorn victim. With every inch of ground that it gained in its approach the pain seemed to amplify; it was like his scar was trying to open up into a fresh wound.

It seemed crazy that he was in this position. A short time ago he'd been wandering though the Forbidden Forest with his blonde haired nemesis and Hagrid's cowardly mutt, in the middle of the pitch black night, searching for a creature that had been attacking unicorns. The entire thing was insane. Two first year students and a dog hunting a unicorn killer, at night, in a forest that students were forbidden to enter… Unfathomably stupid!

All of this because he'd tried to prevent Hagrid from getting into trouble for keeping an illegal fire-breathing dragon which the half-giant had decided to raise inside a wooden hut. Dragon fire in a wooden hut, what was Hagrid thinking? Luckily they'd managed to get the dragon out of the country unseen, thanks to Ron's brother Charlie and Harry's dad's invisibility cloak. Unluckily, they'd been caught breaking curfew, for which they had Malfoy to thank, which had landed them in detention. Sure, they'd had Hagrid with them, crossbow in hand, but only up until he suggested they split up. He'd felt sorry for Neville who'd had to partner with Malfoy, but thankful he could stay with Hagrid and Hermione, at least he'd be safe with Hagrid. However, shortly after an exchange with some centaurs they'd ended up reunited with the other two boys when Neville had sent up red sparks having been scared by Malfoy. Hagrid had run to their aid and returned with them shortly afterwards. It was then that Hagrid made them switch; Neville joined Hagrid and Hermione whilst he was left with Draco. When Malfoy had run away screaming the moment they had spotted the dark hooded creature feeding on its unicorn prey Harry was forced to reconsider his initial assessment that it'd had been a small mercy that Malfoy had to share in their detention.

Detention… in a forest… in the middle of the night… with a unicorn killer on the loose… Ridiculous!

As ridiculous as it all was Harry much preferred the notion of a ridiculous life compared to no life at all, though it looked like that decision wasn't his anymore. The creature was barely 100 yards away now. Harry's vision was foggy for the searing pain in his scar but he could still see the silvery unicorn blood dripping for the creature's mouth. Would it eat him too? Is that how he was going to die?

Harry had looked death in the face a few times, more than a few thanks to his Uncle and cousin, but this one, this was the worst. Given the creature was blanketed in a dark hooded robe, it genuinely felt like he was staring the actual grim reaper in the face, but that wasn't what made this the worst time. This was the worst because he'd finally come to know happiness. If he'd have died by Vernon or Dudley's hand when they got carried away beating him he'd have greeted death willingly, a final escape from a life of pain and misery. But then he'd learnt he was a wizard. He thought that magic was his escape; that his life was going to change for the better, and that had been true for the most part. Sure the wizarding world had its problems, but it also gave him friends, people who cared about him, he'd found a love of Quidditch and flying, and despite what Ron might have thought, Harry found a love for studying magic.

He'd pretended to hate studying like Ron, but being from a muggle background, especially his muggle background, he was fascinated by the subjects they studied. He had often found himself wishing he'd been honest with Ron from the start, then he could spend more time studying, like Hermione did, but he'd felt that it was too late. And now it truly was too late.

The creature was so close now. Harry could hear the blood pumping in his head. It seemed to get louder and closer. The creature was no longer paying attention to him, it seemed to be looking further into the forest behind Harry. It was then that Harry realised that the thumping noise he was hearing wasn't his own blood pumping, but something else. The creature began backing away to Harry's relief, his vision clearing slightly just in time to see a large body leap over his trembling form. Harry watched as a four-legged creature, half-horse and half-human, blocked the hooded creatures path. The creature was still backing away slowly, as if contemplating whether it could dispatch the newcomer. It seemed to take one last glance towards Harry before turning and fleeing. The hybrid creature, which Harry knew to be a centaur, but not one of the two he'd met earlier, chased after the monster to ensure it didn't return.

Harry felt his breath begin to slow down to its normal pace whilst his heartbeat followed suit. His scar was still throbbing with pain, but it was no longer burning like it had before. Harry knew he needed to move, he needed to find his way back to others, before the creature came back for him, or found them. He tried to lift himself off the ground, using the tree he'd been resting on as leverage, but stopped and fell back to the floor with a grunt due to a sharp pain in his right hand. He held the hand up to his eyes and saw a large cut across his palm that was bleeding quite heavily. He couldn't remember when the wound had occurred, maybe when he'd tripped backwards on a tree root as he'd backed away from the creature.

He held his right arm to his chest with his hand and wrist elevated higher than his elbow, and lifted himself off the ground with his left hand on the tree and his legs doing the brunt of the work. Harry glanced around, he could only see forest around him and was unsure which way he'd come from. He could hear the thumping of the centaur approaching and Harry was unsure if he should still be there when it came back. Sure, it had saved him from the creature, but that might have just been for its own purpose, not for Harry's benefit. Harry turned to face away from the approaching centaur and took a single step in that direction. As he did he heard a soft whimpering neigh from the unicorn nearby. "It's still alive," he muttered to himself.

The centaur was really close now, judging by the sound of its hooves galloping on the forest floor. Harry looked towards the sound, then towards his planned escape route, and finally to the bleeding unicorn. He hesitated for barely a second before he quickly trudged over the unicorn. He dropped to his knees at its side and inspected its wound. It appeared that the monster had sliced at it with a claw, or maybe a knife and had been drinking the blood seeping from the wound as opposed to eating the poor creature. Harry looked around for something to hold on the wound but couldn't find anything. By now the centaur had returned, Harry paid it no mind, his attention solely focussed on the unicorn.

"Are you all right?" asked the centaur. Harry did not answer, too busy with his current task. The centaur moved slightly closer looking carefully at Harry "You are the Potter boy," he said, "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time, especially not for you."

Harry ignored the centaur's words, instead, he removed his jumper and tried to hold pressure on the unicorn's wound. Whilst trying to apply as much pressure as he could he asked the centaur a question of his own, "What was that creature?"

The centaur didn't answer, "That will do no use," he stated.

Harry adjusted the jumper to try and cover more of the wound, unwilling to give up and let it perish. Doing so, however, caused the unicorn's blood to make contact with the wound on his right hand.

The centaur bowed his head to the unicorn, as if sensing its life was about to end. "It is a noble gesture Harry Potter but…" Whatever the centaur was about to say would forever be unknown as bright white light burst forth from the point where Harry's right hand touched the unicorn's wound. The centaur could not but close its eyes to prevent itself being blinding by the glorious beam of light.

Harry watched with awe as the light sprang forth but then screwed his eyes shut as a wave of magic flowed out from the unicorn and into him. It started at his injured right hand and moved to his wrist and arm, it seemed to linger at the bone in his arm that Dudley had broken when Harry was just 5 years old. It then carried on moving up to his torso, pausing at his ribs which Vernon had bruised on Harry's 8th birthday. The magic continued to flow from there throughout his whole body, seeming to pause at the site of every old injury, every scar before it finally found its way to Harry's head, lingering briefly at his eyes before moving to his forehead and the lightning bolt scar that resided there. The magic had been burning through his system with an oddly pleasant feeling, but when it reached his scar, the pleasant feeling diminished and was replaced with fiery pain as the wave of magic seemed to do battle with a darkness that resided there.

Eventually though, the magic did its job, whatever its job was. The burning heat began to dissipate and the light faded away. Harry opened his eyes just in-time to see a black shadow rise from his forehead and slowly fade into nothing. Harry had no idea what had just happened but his body felt exhausted. He was broken from his musings as the unicorn beneath him moved. He looked down and saw that the unicorn's wound was no longer there, not even a scar. Harry looked to the unicorn's head to see it was turned towards him. He looked into its eyes and stood up, as if it had somehow instructed him to do so. The unicorn then stood to its hooves and gazed at Harry for a short time. The unicorn then neighed softly and bowed to him. Harry followed suit though he wasn't sure why. The unicorn then turned away and slowly trotted into the depths of the forest. Harry watched after it for a few short moments before he remembered that he wasn't alone.

He turned towards the centaur who was staring in opened mouth shock. This one was neither Ronan nor Bane whom he'd met earlier that night. This one appeared younger, the coat of his horse half was golden in colour whilst the long hair on his head and tail was white-blonde.

"Thank you, for saving me" Harry spoke cautiously, still unsure if he was truly safe at this point.

"I never expected to see such a sight as this in my lifetime", the centaur looked up to the heavens as if searching for answers and Harry assumed something in the night sky is what he was referring to and looked in the same direction wondering what it was he was seeing but unable to see anything himself.

"Yeah... I hear Mars is bright tonight." Harry tried to engage the centaur by quoting Ronan and Bane who'd stated this about Mars when Hagrid had asked if they'd seen anything unusual in the forest.

The centaur ceased gazing at the stars at Harry's statement and instead looked to him instead. "Indeed it is Harry Potter. Though that is not what I was speaking of." The centaur paused, looking around the forest, as if surveying they were truly alone before continuing to speak, "Harry Potter, what do you know of unicorns?"

Harry pondered the question briefly before giving an answer, "Nothing, I didn't even know they were real until I used some tail hair and horn in a potion lesson. Sorry, I never asked your name?"

"My name is Firenze." Before the centaur could speak more both he and the boy-who-lived were interrupted by ominous sounds coming from the direction the creature had fled to. "As I said Harry Potter, the forest is not safe at this time. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way." He proceeded to lower himself onto his front legs so that Harry could clamber onto his back."

As Harry did so he heard the sound of more galloping from behind where Firenze had arrived. Ronan and Bane came into view, the latter immediately shouting in outrage, "Firenze! What are you doing? Have you no shame?"

Firenze bade no attention to Bane's anger, "Do you not realise who this is? This is the Potter boy. He just saved the life of a unicorn."

Both Bane and Ronan were shocked, "Are you sure?" asked Ronan.

"I witnessed it myself," said Firenze.

Harry watched the three centaurs communicating about his accidental feat without any comprehension as to its significance. He wished to query the matter with them, but sensed it was better that he not speak.

Ronan and Bane glanced at each other before staring at the boy astride their fellow centaur. Harry wasn't sure what they were seeing when they looked at him, but it left him feeling naked and exposed.

Ronan, as if sensing his discomfort, shook himself out of his reverie to speak more to Firenze, "Return him to Hagrid. Be careful what you say to the boy, there are some things he will have to learn for himself, we cannot use our knowledge of what has been foretold to influence his decision, or else what has been foretold may not come to pass."

Firenze nodded to Ronan and Bane shortly before he began to gallop away from them and towards the direction he and Malfoy had come from.

To say Harry was clueless to what had been going on in the last 10 minutes would have been a massive understatement. "Excuse me, sir, but can you explain what happened back there? What was that thing you saved me from? What does it matter that I saved the unicorn's life, and how did that even happen anyway?

Firenze slowed to a trot but did not answer any of his questions. After a few minutes though the centaur stopped in a clearing, he glanced around again before he began to speak, "It is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn. Such a crime could only be committed by somebody with nothing to lose. Unicorn blood will keep you alive even if you are on the verge of death, but at a terrible price. To slay a creature so pure and defenceless to save oneself would result in a half-life, a cursed life."

Harry was still lost, "But what does that mean? Cursed how?"

Firenze didn't answer, instead saying "Drinking unicorn blood is an act of desperation, but what if you only needed to survive long enough to drink something else, something that could restore strength and health and power, that would mean that you could never die."

Harry suddenly realised what the centaur was leading him to, "The Philosopher's Stone. The Elixir of Life. But who -"

Firenze didn't speak, only looked to the scar on Harry's forehead. Harry blanched in comprehension, "Do you mean… that creature… that was Voldemort?"

Harry was unsure if Firenze intended to answer the question, but Hagrid and the others emerging from nearby meant he'd never know.

"Alrigh' there 'Arry?" the half-giant asked. Harry could only nod. His brain stuck on what Firenze had led him to discover. There were still so many questions that needed answering, including the significance of him saving the unicorn's life.

"This is where I leave you," Firenze stated, causing Harry to slide off the centaur's back and back to the ground. "You are safe now. Good luck, Harry Potter."

The half-horse half-man creature then turned and galloped away into the depths of the forest. Harry watched after him for a moment before he felt Hermione at his side. "Are you alright Harry?" she questioned, not giving him a moment to answer before asking additional questions, "What happened? Did you find the unicorn? Malfoy said there was a monster feeding from it, is that true?"

Harry didn't answer any of her questions, instead he looked to Hagrid, "The unicorn is fine, Firenze scared… the monster away before it could do any real harm to it or me." He wasn't sure why he omitted the information about Voldemort or his saving the unicorn, he could only assume he needed to get his own head around both things first before he shared the information with anyone else.

Hagrid nodded, glanced around at the clearly frightened school children before declaring, "Detention is over, let's get you all back to the castle."

The group began their journey, Hermione sticking to Harry like glue. Once they were out the forest, Hagrid walked them back to the castle, and he, Hermione and Neville returned to Gryffindor tower in silence.

Once inside the common room they found Ron was asleep on the nearby sofa, he'd obviously waiting for them to return. Neville muttered a quiet farewell to the other two Gryffindors. Harry thought about following him, for one, so he could apologise to Neville for the part he played in Neville's inclusion in detention, and secondly, so he could go to sleep and pretend this night had never happened. However, he knew he needed to tell Ron and Hermione what had happened in the forest, especially the part about the Philosopher's stone.

Harry moved over to Ron and shook him awake. "I've got something to tell you, both of you. Something big." Ron had initially looked ready to smack Harry upon being woken so rudely, but at Harry's words it appeared that Ron realised that whatever Harry had to say didn't bode well. Harry himself could only imagine the state that he and Hermione were in after their… adventure in the forest.

Harry took a seat opposite Ron as he sat up, Hermione then took the seat next to Ron. Harry took a deep breath before telling Ron about their detention, Hermione filling in with details Harry couldn't in regards to her location when Harry wasn't with her. Once the story was over, Ron could only utter two words.

"Bloody hell!"


End file.
